Trump admin scared Mueller investigation closing in

He said the answers have not yet been submitted to the Mueller investigators.

The White House has said it would not answer Mueller's questions on possible obstruction of justice, though that hasn't been confirmed by the special counsel's team, which has generally only detailed its movements in court and through court filings.

Asked about his comments on Twitter the day before, in which he blasted Mueller and his "gang of Democrat thugs", Trump said nothing in particular had brought that on.

"The questions were very routinely answered by me, " said Donald Trump.

While Mr Trump did not specify when his legal team would give Mr Mueller his written responses, a person familiar with the matter said it is likely they would be submitted next week. "You always have to be careful answering questions with people who probably have bad intentions".

"It led me to believe the walls are closing in and they've been notified by counsel of some actions about to happen", a senior Republican official told Politico. You need lawyers to go over some of the answers.

On Thursday, Trump issued a robust tweet criticizing the Mueller probe which he described as a "total mess". "I imagine it's ending now", Trump added.

Tensions have risen over the probe since Trump last week ousted Jeff Sessions as U.S. attorney general and named Matthew Whitaker as his replacement on an acting basis.

A federal judge on Thursday refused to dismiss criminal charges against Concord Management and Consulting LLC, a Russian Federation company accused by Mr Mueller of funding a propaganda operation to sway the 2016 election in Mr Trump's favour.

Trump has called the probe a "witch hunt" and said there was no such collusion.

Trump's former national security adviser, onetime campaign chair and personal attorney have all agreed to plead guilty to various charges, as have two others from his campaign team, following investigations launched by the special counsel. Mueller was appointed as Federal Bureau of Investigation director by former President George W. Bush and Obama later extended his original 10-year-term by two years until 2013.